St. Johns River

Our Florida Times-Union news partner reports that decades of deepening the river, combined with severe storms like Hurricane Irma, have brought the Atlantic Ocean right to the doorstep of downtown Jacksonville.

The long-awaited demolition of the parking deck behind the old county courthouse and the reconstruction of Coastline Drive and Liberty Street could cost $1 million more and take months longer to finish than originally anticipated.

Measures that would double Gov. Rick Scott's spending request for the Florida Forever conservation program and earmark money to improve the St. Johns River continued to move easily through the Senate on Thursday.

Thursday on First Coast Connect, we spoke with Ramon Day and Dr. Shyam Payani with Floridians Advocating for Insurance Reform, or FAIR. They want a Constitutional Amendment placed on the November 2020 ballot to implement a single-payer health system in Florida (01:08).

We were told the results of a poll asking local residents their thoughts on the future of the St. Johns River with Dr. Quint White and Dr. Ray Oldakowski from Jacksonville University (29:22).

We heard about a move in the Duval County School District to get rid of traditional school lockers with district IT executive director Jim Culbert (36:56).

Thursday on “First Coast Connect,” we heard about the 2017 edition of the State of the River Report with co-authors University of North Florida Chemistry Professor Dr. Radha Pyati and Associate Research Scientist Dr. Gerry Pinto at the Jacksonville University Science Research Institute (01:07).

We were told about a new partnership between UNF and the Peace Corp called Peace Call Prep with UNF Peace Corp Prep Advisor Dr. Tim Robinson, and UNF alumnus and returned Peace Corp volunteer Frances Luna (24:53).

Patty Crosby of Hospice of the Golden Isles spoke about this weekend’s St. Simons Food and Spirits Festival (32:30).

We heard about the Fall Makery, a move to get more people to buy local products with The Makery co-founders Sara Flowers and Taryn Nilson. Along on hand were Sailors Siren co-owner Whitney Canney and Fish Lips Paper Design owner Kimi Chronis. They were joined by Kerry Speckman who talked about other upcoming events this month (42:03).

This year’s State of the River Report concludes there’s a lot of room for improvement when it comes to some nutrients and pollutants that cause toxic algal blooms, including chlorophyll and fecal coliform. That’s even though levels of certain pollutants like phosphorus and nitrogen, have been trending downward in the last 10 years.

Today on “First Coast Connect,” we spoke with former CSX executive Dale Lewis (01:02) about his research into the pros and cons of dredging the St. Johns River. Robert E. Lee High School students Alan McCullough and Devon Brown, along with their teacher Amy Donofrio (28:55) told us about the Evacuation Movement program. Deb Chapin and Brian Anderson (36:51) with the Ponte Vedra Greenway Alliance discussed the upcoming “Palm Valley Storytelling Day,” and travel blogger Judy Wells (44:25) told us about her recent trip to Poland.